Black Rose: Search for the Cure
by RocksYourSocks
Summary: This has some of the things from Heroes and other books or movies. It tells the story of a girl trying to find the cure for a virus.


"Black Rose? Can you hear me?"

"Maybe she didn't make it?"

"Mr. Coners will be disappointed."

"Aaaahhhh! They're coming!"

"Code Red. Code Red. Code Red."

"What's happening?"

"Do you guys hear that? It's like something is trying to break in."

"We can't let it get her. We have to protect her."

"But how?"

"The underground lab. They'll never find her there."

"What if she wakes up?"

"She'll have to figure it out. We can't risk losing her, now that we've come this far. She's our last hope."

This room is so bright. Why am I in a lab? Why am I in this tank/container? What time is it? It feels like I've been asleep for a really long time.

As I look at the room I notice that there are four computers. They aren't very big computers. I also notice that the room is empty, without any windows, and the door is made out of titanium. In front of me taped to the glass of the container is a note.

"_To open press hand against the glass."_

I did as the note said. When I pressed my hand on the glass, the liquid in the tank/container began to drain. As it drained I felt the air fill my lungs. It was like something totally brand new. The air kind off burned but it felt good. Then I heard a click and the glass opened. As I got out of the tank/container, I realized my clothes weren't wet at all.

I didn't remember anything from my past. Like how I got here or why was I in that container/tank thing. All I recalled was people screaming.

As I walked around the room I saw a duffle bag sitting in a corner. On it was another note.

_Dear Black Rose,_

Was I Black Rose?

_You must be very confused right now. We didn't know when you'd wake up, but we hoped you would before it was too late. If you want to know the time and date, look on the keypad in front of the glass container you woke up in._

I did as the note instructed. Sure enough it was right there. It was 12:00 A.M. and the date was December 25th, 3000. I continued to read the note.

_You must know that you are our last hope we can't say much more. In the duffle bag you will find clothes, keys, credit cards and money, maps, some food, some technology, and a necklace. The necklace will have your name on it, or the name we gave you._

I opened the duffle bag and sure enough, everything was in there. I found the necklace and on it said Black Rose. I put it on, and continued to read the note.

_The name is also a code. With it you are able to access any technology. Now we have one goal for you. It is for you to try and save the world. In one of the computers there is a disk in it. It contains more instructions for you. We are counting on you Black Rose. Please don't fail us._

Wow, that's it. I just have to save the world, FUN. I went over and turned on all the computers and searched for the one with the disk. I found it in the computer closest to the door. When I played it, all I saw were codes and pictures. After it was done I took out the disk and examined it. On the back was more instruction. Joy I love instructions.

Go to the wall with the picture hanging on it.

Remove picture off the wall

Place necklace up to the scanner

Place eye in front of the scanner

Take weapons out of the hidden compartment and destroy this disk

Keep the necklace with you at all times and DON'T EVER LOSE IT!!!!!

Wow. Those are some clear directions, especially the last part. Note to self, don't forget the last part.

As I made my way towards the painting, I began to feel nervous. I removed the painting which I realized was a portrait of a boy. He had the same dark brown almost black hair as me and light green eyes. He reminded me of somebody, but I couldn't remember. I removed the painting from the wall and placed the necklace in front of the scanner. The scanner was attached to the wall. It was square and flat. When the necklace was in front of it, a light shot from the top of the scanner and made its way towards the bottom, on its way scanning the necklace. After the necklace was scanned, I put my eye in front of it and watched as the light scanned it. As I looked at the scanner, I had the same strange feeling that I had already done this before, but it felt like it had been ages ago. After the scanner was done, I pulled my face away from it and noticed that words were beginning to appear on the scanner's flat surface.

_New identification. Resetting all codes in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. New code activated. Welcome Miss Black Rose. From now on every scanner will recognize your DNA. You now have access to almost everything. Thank you for your patience._

Then the screen went blank and the wall began to shift. Behind the wall was a hidden compartment. It looked like it contained about fifty different types of weapons (some of which I didn't recognize). I instinctively grabbed some. It was like I wasn't controlling my body but somebody else was. I noticed that I was grabbing small portable weapons. As I grabbed them I put them in my duffle bag. When I was done I realized I had a couple of guns, ammo for them, a few grenades (wonder what I will need those for) and a little ball thing- which I had no clue what it was for.

I walked away from the compartment and it began to close (weird). I decided to take another look around, but as I passed the titanium door a map appeared out in front of it. The map looked like a hologram, but I didn't know where the projector was- or was it a projector? Then my eye caught something on the door. It was a small, rounded, flat disk type object. As I got closer to it, I began to feel edgy (wonder why, um maybe because I didn't know what it was and if it would blow up). When I was close enough to it, I stuck my hand out for it. Three inches, two inches, one inch, one centimeter. I was one centimeter away from it- now would be the perfect time for a note or better yet for someone to scream "Don't touch it!" or "Touch it, it's totally safe." Anyway, you guessed it, I touched it. BOOM!! Just kidding. As I touched it, a scanner appeared on where my finger was. Then a hologram appeared of a man. The man was tall, was strong from what it could tell (but not like in I'm buff and I know it type of way), he was wearing a suit, had the same colored hair as me and his face was serious.

"Hello Black Rose. I only have a couple of minutes so listen up. This message will only play once. You are in the future; I don't know what year you're in though. The year that this message was made in was 2500. You're probably confused right now, but focus. I am Mr. Coners, president of New World Technology Inc."

"For a while now we have been researching human DNA and the ability to alter it and give people abilities, like the ability over the elements, the ability to shape shift, to fly, be able to teleport, cast spells and many other. Why you may ask. It's only because we want to make this world better. Think about it, if people could fly, there would be no need for cars and other modes of transportation, so we wouldn't need oil to make gasoline. Of course, we would only give certain abilities to certain people and some would be available to the public. For example we wouldn't give the ability of control over the elements to a prisoner, but we would probably give the ability to fly to any individual. We are also trying to find a way to make the abilities disappear, in case one fell into the wrong hands."

"A couple of years ago we started to experiment on people, after all of our animals tests passed. We were monitoring the individuals, which of course had volunteered themselves, but two years after they were injected with the serum, they began to change. First the changes weren't big, bigger appetites, they could go days without sleep and not feel tired a bit, and a small change in their IQ. But then the changes became bigger and greater. These changes started to become dangerous. Some had developed a big appetite, sometimes eating 20,000 calories a day. To calm their appetite they began to hunt animals, not with weapons, but instead with their bare hands. Then things got really bad. Some started to become thirsty for blood. That was all they wanted and needed; so they too began to hunt but not animals, instead humans. We decided to bring everyone back, even the ones that were still sane. Once they were back here we started to test them right away. The results of the tests showed that their DNA structure was changing, we had expected this, but not that big of a change. After a few weeks their body structure began to change also. It was horrible. The ones that craved blood began to grow fangs, and began to hate the sun or change when they were exposed to it. Others began to shed their skin, some stayed the same on the outside, but on the inside they began to lose their sanity. One minute you could be having a perfectly nice conversation, the next they would be trying to kill you. At this point we didn't think things could get any worse but they did, and it became a world wide problem. First the test subjects either began to die in horrible ways or began to kill. We lost some of our scientists like that. At this point we tried to contain the changes in the people, or what was left of them. Then one day we discovered that a scientist had leaked the formulas to a big rival company for a large sum of money, and the company had begun to make mass productions of the serums. After this bad incident some of our scientists that were monitoring the air discovered that the virus had become airborne. According to them the chemicals in the serums that were given to the people had mixed with the carbon dioxide that the people exhaled and were released into the atmosphere. We also discovered that if they became pregnant after the injection, the baby and their partner also became infected. These were devastating facts we discovered, so we went public. The public went crazy. Meanwhile back in the labs the scientists were trying to find a cure and a way to stop the virus from spreading, but we failed. Every time they tried, they either killed the host or sped up the process. That's when we made the decision to try and find somebody or people that couldn't be infected, and that's when we found you. We ran many tests with you beginning with injecting you all the way to giving you the cures and nothing in you changed, you remained the same. Shortly after the last test you fell into a deep sleep, sort of like a coma. We couldn't wake you up. So we decided to put you in the container, in which you woke up. A few days after you were in the container some of the test subjects escaped and started attacking this building. We had to think of a way to save you. So we decided to lock you down, down here in the basement for your safety."

"Now we have one quest for you. It is for you to find a cure for the virus. This object which is projecting me is a holographic projector. It is also a map. It can show you any part of the world exactly how it looks and if the world changes the map will automatically readjust itself. It can locate anyone or anything in the world. If they touch the map then they will be given a color. The color will be in the form of a dot and it will show you where they are. It can also show you the locations of mutated people that are dangerous, marking them in red triangles. A good place for you to start looking will be the New World Technology Inc. headquarters."

"I also have something very important to tell you before this message ends. We erased all of your memory because it was the only way to protect you from the trackers. The trackers are special experiments that the airborne virus created. They can track anyone anywhere in the world, by looking at their memories. They were able to track you, but now they can't due to the fact that all your memories were erased. If you recover, don't worry, they won't be able to track you still. Now it's up to you to save the world. Along the way you may encounter enemies and friends. Some people that were infected can still be sane. Their DNA was able to adapt to the changes. Now I wish you good luck and may you be successful with you journey." The man said.

After he finished talking, the hologram disappeared. I went and grabbed the holographic map thing (note to self: figure out what to call it) off the wall. Then I realized I had pressed a button and had opened up a holographic keyboard. By the time I had realized what I had typed in the map had marked a building in New York City called New World Technology Inc. headquarters. The building had a blue dot on it and there was a lime green dot on the other side of the country. I figured I was the lime green dot. Then I looked at the city the lime green dot was on and realized that it was in Los Angeles. That's a long way from New York, how am I going to get there? I asked myself. Wait what am I thinking, I can't go out there. What if I get killed? After all that man said there were dangerous things out there.

"You won't." I heard a voice say. I slowly began to turn around, but there was no one there. Okay, deep breaths. You must be hearing things. Wait am I going crazy?

"Bo you're not, and you aren't hearing things either," said the voice again. I noticed that it was kind of a happy voice (and also kind of hot, but that's beside the point).

"Who are you and where are you?" I asked.

"Behind you," he whispered in my ear and I jumped so high, I could have touched the ceiling.

"Whoa. I didn't mean to scare you."

I quickly spun around and saw him. I kept my eyes on him, as I began to back away towards the duffle bag. "Who are you?" I asked trying not to make my voice sound shaky- which it totally did.

"I'm Josh," said the boy who looked about sixteen, "But who are you? You don't look infected."

"I'm Black Rose, I think."

"As in the Black Rose experiment and what do you mean by I think?" He inquired.

I looked at him puzzled. "Experiment? What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" Josh asked.

"No, and infected? Infected with the virus thing?" I asked him, feeling my head cloudy. Then I realized I was falling backwards. Just as I realized this, I felt hands steady me up. Why does my head feel foggy? I asked myself.

"My guess is you were given too much information at once."

"Wh-what? How did you know what I was asking? I didn't say it out loud." I asked, feeling myself falling a little bit.

"Whoa, steady now. Why don't you sit down and I can answer some of your questions. Okay?"

I did as he suggested. I found a chair by a computer and sat on it. I instinctively put my head between my knees (it helped a lot).

"You okay now?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better. Thanks." I told him.

"Good, you gave me a scare there." I could hear the relief in his voice.

"Hey, you haven't answered my questions like you said you would." I told him.

"Okay. First what do you wanna know?" Josh said kinda playfully.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" I asked him in a curious voice.

"It's one of my abilities." He said bashfully. Just then I realized how cute he looked like. He actually looked like a model. He had light blue eyes, golden hair that was messed up, but looked totally cute on him. He was wearing a t-shirt and some baggy jeans that were light blue and had worn out parts. He was strong and his shirt fit him perfectly, but it wasn't too tight. He didn't act all tough and macho (gets brownie points for that). Josh was really sweet and I could tell I could trust him. Then I saw a smirk on his face. Oh no, I had forgotten he could read my mind. So now my own thoughts weren't private anymore?

"Sorry," Josh said bashfully.

"Its fine," I said sounding tired. Then everything went black.

"Wh-what happened?" I said sounding kid off groggy.

"Well, you fell asleep for about 2 hours." A voice said. It sounded familiar. Then it all came back, the hologram, Josh, the notes, the duffle bag, everything, except my memory of my life before I woke up in the container.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked a worried look on his perfectly cute face.

"Nothing, I guess."

"You guess?" He said kind of playfully.

"No, it's just that I can't seem to remember anything from my past, and it bugs me." I replied.

"Yeah I know what you mean."

"You forgot your past too?" I asked, curiosity taking over.

"No, not exactly. It's a long story, let's talk about something else." He said trying to change the subject. "So is there anything you have to do?"

"I think so. The hologram thing told me that I had to try and find a cure for this virus. It also said that I should start by looking in the New World Technology Inc. headquarters." I said.

"Well do you know where the headquarters are at?" He inquired.

"Yeah the holographic map showed it being in New York City." I pulled out the projector thing and showed him the map.

"How come there are two different colored dots on the map, and what are the little red triangles for?" Josh asked.

"The green one is me, the blue one is the headquarters in New York and the red triangles are the dangerous experiments." I told him.

"How come there's not a red triangle next to the green dot, seeing how I'm here standing next to you?"

"I said the dangerous experiments, not the nice ones. But if you want to appear, you can touch this disk thing and you'll appear on the map." I said holding out the map for him to touch.

He was silent for a moment thinking this over then he said, "Okay," extending his hand towards the map. Once his fingers were on it a green light appeared and started to scan them. After a few seconds we saw a light blue dot appear next to my lime green one. The dot was the same color as his eyes.

"So now you're on the map." I told him.

"That was it? I thought it was going to shock me and say I was a dangerous experiment." He said kind of sarcastically.

"I wouldn't have let it shock you." I replied.

"Thanks, that means a lot." He said. We both smiled at each other when he finally said, "How about I help you with your mission."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah I mean I have nothing better to do, and maybe if we find the cure we can help save the world."

"Hey, do you have any other you know, abilities?" I asked, feeling curiosity take over me again.

"Yeah, but I doubt you'd like to see them." Josh replied.

"I bet they're really cool." I said

"No I'd scare you and you'd hate me." He said sadness in his voice.

"No I won't, anyways I'm the one that asked you in the first place." I told him.

"Maybe later," he said in a low voice, "anyways don't we have to get to New York City?" Josh said I a much perkier voice.

I noticed it pained him to talk about it, so I said "Your right we have to figure out a way to get to NYC."

"Okay, so maybe we could get a jet from one of the private airports here in L.A." Josh suggested.

"That would be great except I don't know how to fly one." I declared.

"Maybe you don't but I do. My dad used to be in the air force and he taught me how to fly a plane."

"Really? That sounds really cool. I wish I could remember my past." I told Josh unconsciously.

"Wait, what do you mean you can't remember? What happened?" Josh asked me.

"I don't know. All I know is what the hologram and the notes told me."

"What hologram and what notes?"

"Um, the hologram of the man that came out of this disk projector thing," I said showing him the disk projector thing, "and the notes were all over this room when I woke up. Wait I can show the notes and the disk also."

"Disk?"

"Yeah, along with the notes and hologram, there was a disk in the computer. Here let me get them." I walked towards where I left the disk and then I saw that it had been broken. "The disk, it's been broken." I told him. "But I don't know how it broke."

"Well, are you sure you didn't accidentally step on it?" Josh asked, the worry coming back to his voice.

"No, I don't remember. Ugh. My head is killing me. Why is the room spinning?" then I felt myself fall backwards again and then the darkness came and wrapped me up just like a blanket.

It was warm outside. I was in shorts and a t-shirt. Sunglasses were on my face and a hat was on my head. I was wearing flip flops and there was someone holding my hand. Then I noticed we were on the beach. The sun was warm and inviting. It was really hot and the water looked really cool. I ran towards it. When I was in it, I felt something touch my leg. Then I was under water. I started to kick and punch but the water didn't let me. Then I saw it. It was a woman. She had blonde hair, but her eyes were red, crimson red. Her face was hard and looked like stone. She was singing and it soothed me. Then I heard a splash in the water, and I blacked out. When I woke up I was lying in the sand and people were all around me. There was a guy asking if I was okay. I said yeah, and then I realized that that boy looked like Josh.

"Hey, Black Rose, are you okay? Hello? Anybody home?" I saw him smiling at me. "You have to stop doing that. One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack." He said sarcastically. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but it's getting annoying. How long was I out for?"

"I think about an hour."

Then I remembered what I had dreamed and I started to feel hungry. Had that boy in my dream been Josh? "I had the weirdest dream and now I feel hungry." I said, not realizing what I had said until a few seconds had passed and saw the smirk on Josh's face.

"About time you realized you were hungry." He said with a smirk on his face.

"How did you know I was hungry?" I asked.

"Your stomach had been growling while you were asleep."

"Oh," was all I could manage, while trying to not let my checks turn red.

"Yeah, so, do you have anything to eat?" He asked.

"I think so; there was some food in the duffle bag. Would you like to join me?" I asked trying not to forget my manners.

"No I ate right before I came." He said, and I saw something cross his face for just a moment.

"Oh," I said.

"So you can eat, meanwhile I'll go do a perimeter scan. Be back in a few." Then he was out of the building. But he didn't hear him open the door.

I went over to the duffle bag and pulled out a sandwich. The sandwich looked freshly made. I took a big bite out of it and I could taste the freshness of the sandwich. It was delicious and it felt like it had been ages since the last time I ate. In about two minutes the sandwich was gone and I went in search for something to drink. Then I saw a Kool-Aid Jammers pouch in the bag and drank it in five seconds. I felt so full and happy. Just as I cleaned up Josh was back in the lab room.

"Coast's clear." He declared.

"Okay, so when are we going to go to the airport place?" I asked Josh.

"We can leave when the sun rises, it'll be less dangerous then."

"Sounds good, how long till then?" I inquired.

"About two hours," he said, "while we wait, you can tell me about the dream you had."

"Um, okay I'll try. It feels kinda blurry."

"That's fine, maybe it's a clue."

"Okay, it started with me feeling the warmth of the sun on me. I was at the beach and it was really hot out. I decided to go for a swim. After a few minutes of being in the water I felt something touch my leg then suddenly I was under the water. I started to punch and kick, but the water wouldn't let me. Then I saw a woman under the water with me. She had blonde hair and her eyes were red, crimson red. He face was hard and stony. She was singing and her song soothed me. I didn't even realize I needed air. Then I heard a splash in the water and I blacked out. When I woke up there were people surrounding me and a boy that looked like you, but was younger was asking me if I was okay, and then I woke up." I told him. When I looked up I saw something again on Josh's face, but as quickly as it had appeared it had disappeared.

"Wow. That must have been some strange dream. Do you think that maybe it was a memory of your past?" Josh asked.

"Maybe, but I don't know. I don't remember anything." I admitted.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll figure it out together, so take it easy okay."

"Okay I will." I said. "Hey can you tell me what happened, since I don't remember anything?"

"Okay I'll try."

"Anything will be of help at this point."

"From what I can recall it all started January 1st, 2501. There were these vaccines that were released by this company. They were advertised all over the world. They did commercials, magazine articles, radio shows, anything you can name. Everybody wanted one. So people started to buy them. Depending on which one you got, you would get certain 'abilities'. I thought it was a joke, so I didn't want one. There was also another company saying that these vaccines were bad and people shouldn't have gotten them, but everyone wanted them, so they paid no attention to the warnings. The warnings intrigued me, so I didn't get one. My parents though, they had a different opinion, so they got them. Then a few weeks after they had their shots, they started to act different. Eventually it got to the point where they were very aggressive. I got scared and ran away. A few weeks later I decided to come back. I had been staying with my aunt who like me, hated the thought about getting the vaccine. When I got home I noticed that the whole house was trashed. I went upstairs to my room and looked around. It too had been trashed. I went and searched for my parents in the house. Then I found them. They were in their room. But it wasn't them. They had completely changed. They looked hard and stony. Their eyes were red, and there were bodies lying all around them. Then they turned and saw me. I bolted for the door, but they were fast, too fast. So I decided to jump out of the window. I ran and jumped. I felt the glass shatter and then I felt something bite me. When I landed on the ground I bolted back towards my aunt. When I got to her house she cleaned out my cuts, and I told her the story. She looked at where I felt the bite, but there was nothing there. She told me it was probably the glass. A few weeks passed and nothing happened to me, but my aunt, she was a different story. On the news one day we found out the virus went airborne, but I was too late. The next day I saw my aunt; she was starting to look just like how my parents had. Then one day I saw her surrounded by bodies and the next time I saw her, she had killed herself. Then after that everything started to change. I hadn't though and I started to wonder, then one day something was chasing me and I couldn't outrun it. It was on my heels when all of a sudden it wasn't. I looked back and saw that I was back at my aunt's house. That's when I realized I had changed. I began to see what I could do. Then a few months passed and on the radio I heard a broadcast. It said that there was a Black Rose experiment. So I went in search for you. Then one day I came here and found that there was a hidden compartment and that's when I saw you. From that day on I regularly came to check on you, to make sure that you were okay. That's the end." Josh said.

"Wow. That must have been hard. Seeing people change into things, but I appreciate that you came and checked up on me." I told him.

"I think the sun is out. We should get going."

"Okay."

"It's best if we stay in the sunlight, a lot of the 'things' hate it. I'll show you the way," and with that we were off. I grabbed my bag, thinking it might help along the way.

As we walked through the building I noticed it was trashed. I tensed up. Josh saw and grabbed my hand. He helped me get through the torn and broken down parts of the building. Before we got out he said, "I think it would be best if I carry you all the way there."

"But won't I slow you down?"

"No, one of my abilities is strength," and with that he swung me on his back and we were off. I felt the warmth of the sun of the sun on my cheeks. Then I saw something move and I grabbed a gun out of my bag.

"I was wondering what you had in there." He said in a teasing voice. Just then a monster popped out of nowhere and my hand flew up. I pushed the trigger and hit the bull's eye. The monster landed with a clump and that was it.

"Nice shooting, you're like a pro."

"Thanks," and with that the battle was on.

For the next few miles we had to kill off monsters. One time on a road we were ambushed and a grenade was used. I could hear the monsters screaming. When we reached our destination we searched for some keys and hopped on a jet. It was a really thrilling adventure. As I sat in the co-pilot seat (remember, can't fly) I looked over at Josh. He seemed so psyched about everything. On our way to the airport, he had run on top of a building and leaped to the next. I almost lost my bag. But it was awesome being with Josh. He was funny, nice, and cute and he didn't judge me.

Now as the plane took off, I could feel his gaze on me. "So you've already flown a jet before right?" I asked (can't go wrong with double checking).

"Right," and with a grin on his face we were of going way past the limit a jet should be flying, even in the air.

"So what have you been doing all this time, since you know the virus thing?" I asked.

"Not much, you know just trying not to get killed. Believe it or not now that there are no more humans on the earth, the 'monsters' have started hunting each other down." Josh said.

"Wow. They're starting to turn on their own kind. That's kinda messed up." I remarked. "Oh, this has been bugging me for a while now, but are there others like you? Like others that have stayed the same, you know not gone loco?"

"I don't know. The ones that I've met just want to kill. Before when not that many people were infected, they used to hunt humans down as sports."

"Oh, that must've been bad."

"It was. The police didn't know how to handle it."

"So how did you learn to control it? If you don't mind my asking."

"I had a long time to practice. The first time I found you I wanted to go in there and kill you. So for a while I had to stay away and fight my instincts."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault I turned out this way. How about we talk about something else?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"What's your favorite color?" Josh asked me.

"Lime green. It reminds me of watermelon." I said blushing a little at the last part. "Now it's my turn. What's your favorite color?"

"Blue, like you know the ocean blue. Back when everything was normal, I used to love to go surfing. It was my favorite past time." Just then I remembered the part of my dream, where I saw a boy that looked like Josh.

"Hey you remember about the dream I told you, the one with the woman and the red eyes?"

"Yeah."

"Well there was that boy that looked like you. Do you remember if that was you?"

"I don't know." But somehow I sensed he was lying, but I just brushed it off.

"Hey look its New York City. Do you still have that map thing?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, see where the building is, maybe we can land on it."

"Okay." I pulled out the holographic thing (which I now named HT), pushed the button for the map and checked where the building was. I told Josh the directions and we were able to land on it.

"Ready?" Josh asked me.

"I guess so." I replied.

"First let me do a perimeter scan." He told me.

"Um, okay." I said, my voice sounding shaky.

"What's wrong?"

"I have this weird feeling, like that lady is going to show up. I think she's here." I said in a small whisper.

"What, what do you mean?" He said, the worry coming to his voice.

"I have this feeling, she's right below us." Just then I felt somebody behind me, before I could react, I was sent flying (start the action music). I landed on the cement and skidded. The cement scraped me, but I blocked out the pain. As I got up I saw Josh lunge himself at her. I ran for the duffle bag and pulled out a gun. I started to shoot, avoiding hitting Josh. Somehow the bullets went where ever I wanted them to go. Then one bullet landed on her. She screamed with pain. But just when we thought we had her, she pulled out the bullet and she started to heal herself. Josh and I looked at each other in shock. After a few minutes Josh and I found ourselves on the ground, beaten up.

"She's too strong." I said.

"We can't give up. We have to find that cure." Josh told me, his will to fight still fueling his strength.

Just then out of nowhere we saw the woman sent flying. Josh and I looked at each other confused. "Did you do that?" I asked him.

"No, did you?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"I did of course," we both heard a voice, "I heard there was a fight going on, up here and I thought I should check it out. You guys look pretty beat up."

"Behind you." I said. Just in time to let him dodge the woman's attack. They fought for about five minutes. Josh joined them, and he and the new guy beat that old woman (yes I did call her old). Just when I thought they had her, she ran away.

"Thanks for the help." Then everything went black-again.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

"She's probably just tired. This has happened a couple of times already." I heard Josh reply.

"Um, what happened? Ahhhhh!!" I heard myself scream. What had I just felt? It was really sharp pain, and it made my head hurt. I saw everything fuzzy for a few minutes.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard the unknown voice say.

"I don't know and neither does she, but she was in a lot of pain. She even gave me a headache." I heard Josh tell the stranger.

"I'm okay, I think." I said, bringing their attention back to me.

"Wow. You gave us a scare. What happened?" The stranger asked.

"I don't know. I heard her song. The one from the dream here a few minutes ago." I told them.

"A few minutes ago, what are you talking about? You were out for at least three hours." The stranger said.

"It was just a few minutes, wasn't it Josh?" I looked at Josh trying to find the answer.

"He's right Rose, you were out for at least a couple of hours. Did you have another dream?" Josh replied.

"Not that I can remember. But I do remember the number 10. Level 10." I said

"That's two floors below us," the stranger said. "I know a way we can take, where we won't be attacked. You won't believe how many things live down there."

I hesitated for a moment and realized Josh saw my hesitation. Could we trust him?

"Yeah we can." Josh reassured me.

"One question please." I asked.

"Sure." The stranger replied.

"What's your name?" I posed.

"Chris," the guy said, "we should get going now. I have a feeling that lady isn't going to stay hidden for long."

We did as Chris recommended. He showed us a way that included crawling, jumping, running and walking. On our way down there, we were attacked by something. It had been strong and fast (quotes on had). Josh had taken it out with one blow. I started to wonder how come some of the 'things' were harder to kill.

"It's because their DNA adapted well with the virus. Some people's DNA refused to and they died. I think it's all about the person's ability to adapt to changes." Josh answered.

"Oh, okay." Was all I managed to say. I noticed Chris had been quiet. I wondered why he didn't talk, but Josh didn't answer me. So I looked at Chris. He like, Josh was really hot, except he was like the total opposite. He had dark brown hair-almost black, dark chocolate eyes, except when I first saw him and he asked if I was okay, then his eyes were a milk chocolate kind of brown. He was, like Josh, wearing jeans, but his were a dark blue and were plain, he was also in a t-shirt but it was black. He looked well built, but, didn't act like it either. He too could have been a model, but somehow he looked tougher than Josh. When I looked at him I thought of scars, emotional ones and physical ones, but he showed no signs of them. The only way I could tell was by his attitude. He seemed closed off and kind of secretive. But like Josh, I had the same feeling, that he was hiding something but I was able to trust him. Then one thing hit me. How could I have not thought of it sooner? They weren't hurt at all, they didn't even have scratches. In fact they looked like they had just come out of a photo shoot. Note to self ask Josh about that.

We reached the right floor, and when I opened the door we saw Nate. Then you guessed it, I passed out.

Now didn't you just like that little cliff hanger. I bet you want to know what happened, right? Well I guess you'll just have to wait. But I can assure you there's a lot more to this story. A lot more….


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